Baby-carriages and the like



Feb. 26, 1963 F. T. PENFOLD I 3,079,194

BAisY-CARRIAGES AND THE LIKE Filed Ooi. 16, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A Horne VS F. T. PENFOLD BABY-CARRIAGES AND THE LIKE Feb. 26, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 16. 1961 Feb. 26, 1963 Filed 001'.. 16, 1961F. T. PENFOLD BABY-CARRIAGES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 AttorneysFeb. 26, 1963 F. T. PENFOLD BABY-CARRIAGES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed 001.. 16, .1961

Inventor Lm/M 7W MV f Attorneys United States Patent Giiice 3,079,194Patented Feb. 26, 1963 3,079,194 BABY-CARRIAGES AND THE LIKE FrederickThomas Penfold, Sutton, England, assigner to Lines Bros. Limited FiledOct. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 145,065 Claims priority, application GreatBritain Dec. 28, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 296-27) Baby-carriages and similarWheeled vehicles are often collapsible in order to reduce the spaceoccupied by the vehicle in storage or during transportation. Suchvehicles may comprise a collapsible body and `a collapsible frameworkfor the body.

A collapsible body for :a baby-carriage or similar wheeled rvehiclecommonly consists -of upper and lower frames spanned by flexiblematerial. When the ilexible material is stretched between the two framesin the erect position of the body the walls do not have any substantialrigidity, and the appearance `of the -side walls is poor in contrast tothat of coach-built bodies. Moreover, the iiexible material forms atends which do not present the attractive `appearance of a coach-builtrigid body with curved ends.

A common method of achieving the collapsing action of the supportingframework of a baby-carriage or similar wheeled vehicle is to providetwo pairs of crossed members forming an X-framework, the upper ends ofthese members supporting the body of the vehicle when the framework iserect and the lower ends being connected to the wheels. When theframework is collapsed, the crossed members `are pivoted relative toeach other to flatten the X, and the pushing handle of the vehicle can-be folded over the collapsed framework. However, such a collapsibleframework is often diicult to erect and has generally required severalopera-tions to both erect the framework and lock the body of the vehicleto it.

It is an object of this invention to provide a collapsible body for ababy-carriage or similar wheeled vehicle having the appearance of a`coach-'built rigid body and in which rigidity is imparted to theiiexiible sides of the body.

It is a fur-ther object of this invention to provide means Afor lockingthe body of a baby-carriage or similar wheeled vehicle to a collapsibleframework, and to simplify the erection of the latter.

These and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter arerealised in the baby-carriage of the instant invention, which will bedescribed with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of the body in the erect position,showing a hood and a cover fitted to the body;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the body in the collapsed position;

'FIGURE 3 is -a view corresponding to lFIGURE 1 showing the body withoutthe covering of flexible material;

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line IV-IV in FIG- URE 1 FIGURE 5 is asection on the line V-V in FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view of pant of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the baby-carriage showing how thewheels and body are litted -to the collapsible framework;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation of the chassis, framework and handle only;and

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of the chassis, framework and handle inthecollapsed position.

The baby-carriage -body shown comprises an upper frame 1, Ia lower frame2, `and two exible sides 3 `and two flexible ends 4 of polyvinylchloride plastic on a thin fabric backing, which yspan these frames. Theupper frame 1 is composed of two side members S of inverted channelshape and two end members 6, also of inverted channel shape. At thecorners the inner walls of the members 6 `are cut away to accommodaterthe ends lof the members 5, and the overlapping tops of the channelsare welded together.

The lower frame 2 is composed of side bars 7 and end bars 8, all ofwood, and a baseboard 9 which is secured to the two side bars 7 byscrews y10, which pass not yonly through the board 9, but also throughtwo sheets 11 and 112 of Ia plastic which form a casing for the board 9and are heat-sealed at their edges. On the underside of Ithe end bars l8there are hooks 42 by which the body can be secured to the supportingcollapsible framework.

The inverted-channel members S have integral -sheet metal skirts 13,which are outwardly flared las shown in FIGURE 5 and downwardly convexalong their lower edges as shown in FIGURE 2. The sides 3 extend overthe tops of the members 5 as shown at 14 and are fixed to these bysnap-fastening devices 15. From the parts 14 the sides 3 run downwardsin contact with the outer faces of the skirts 13 :and then furtherdownwards yas far as the underside of the lower frame 2, where the loweredges are stitched 'to the side edges of an under covering 16 which isin fact integral with and unites the ends 4. Piping 17 is also stitchedinto the joint so formed.

The body has an inner lining 18' formed from four pieces of plasticsheet, namely two side pieces land two end pieces. The upper edges ofthe side pieces lie `along the inner walls of the inverted-channelmember 5 as shown at 19, and -then run across the top 14 of the sides 3as shown at 20, next downwards as shown at 21 and then upwards again asshown at 22. The parts 21 and 22 are heat-sealed to form :a pocketcontaining a Stiifening strip 23 and padding 24. The part 22 merges intoa top part 25 which is in turn heat-sealed to the part 20 to form apocket containing padding 26. This top part 25 then merges'into adownward run 27 which at the base merges into and is integral with thesheet 11. A strip of padding 2'8 is trapped between the lengths 19 and27 of the sheet. Snap-fastening devices 29 pass through the variouslayers on the outer side 4faces of the members `5 and through holes 30in these members to hold the layers in position. The sheet metal skirt13 imparts rigidi-ty and an `attractively shaped appearance to the-ex-ible side 3 of the body and yet does not prevent the vbody fromcollapsing. The total depth of the sides of the upper frame yand thesheet metal skirt l13 may advantageously be just enough to accommodatethe lower frame and the llexible sides when the 'body is collapsed asshown in FIGURE 2. This is generally also a suicient depth to impartsubstantial shape fto the sides, and to give them a coachabuiltappearance when the body is in the erect position. The body is held inthe erect position by two U-shaped rods 31, the free ends of which arebent 4as shown at 32 to pass through holes in `the inner walls of themembers 5, these rods engaging spring clips 33 iixed to the base 9.

The ends 4 comprise inner and outer sheets 34 and 35 joined together byhorizontal stitching to form transverse parallel pockets each of ywhichreceives a wooden slat 36. When the body is erected the slats impartlateral rigidity to the end of the body, which resembles the slattedpar-t of a rol1-top desk, and -this enables the desired curved shapeclearly shown in FIGURE 4 to be formed and maintained. The maintenanceof this shape is materially lassisted by piping l37 and buckrams-tiiening material 38 stitched in position at the junctions between thesides 3 yand ends 4. One piece of buckram 38 is used at each junction,and lies essentially in the plane 3 of the side 3 at that junction. Thefree edge of each piece of buckram is straight, as shown in FIGURE 4.

To improve the appearance of lthe body still further a decorative metalstrip 39 may be fixed to the outside just above the lower edge of eachskirt 13. The body shown has a hood 40 and a cover 41.

The collapsible X-framework of the baby-carriage iS formed from twotubular metal members 43 and 44 of inverted-U shape pivoted togethernear the middle of their arms at 45. The free ends of both members 46are connec-ted to the chassis 47 through short pieces of metal 48 eachof which is pivotally connected at one end of the chassis and at the-other to a free end of an arm of la U. The handle 449 of thebaby-carriage is of U- shape and at each side is pivoted near its freeend to the U-member 44 near the base of the U at 50 and at its free end51 to a link 52, the other end of which is pivoted at the free end ofthe other U-member at 53. There is also an inwardly directed pin 54 `ateach free end of the handle which can be locked by a hook 55. A pin 56on each cross-arm 57 can lit between each of the two pairs of hooks 42on the under-side of the babycarriage body.

When the framework and handle are in the collapsed position shown inyFIGURE. 9 the arms of U-members 43 and44 at each side, the link 52 andthe part of the handle 49 *between the t-wo pivot points on it form along thin quadrilateral. When the handle is raised the Iangle of thequadrilateral between it and the link becomes more obtuse until it issubstantially 180 when the handle is approximately vertical. ln thisposition, which lis shown in dot-and-dash lines in FGURE. 8, a triangleis formed, and the cross-arm 57 of each U-mem- `ber is raised as high asis possible so that the minimum separation between the cross-arms nowobtains. The body of the baby-carriage may now be rested on thecross-arms 57. Further movement of the handle towards its workingposition causes lthe free ends of the handle at 51 to approach theU-member 44 to which it is pivoted, the cross-arms 57 move downwardsthrough a short distance, and the separation between them increases oncemore. This causes the cross-arms -to engage the hooksV 42 on the body.At the same time each pin 454 at a free end of `the handle comes intoposition to be engaged by a hook `5 which is pivoted on the U- member44, and by rotation of the hooks S5 around the pins 54 the handle islocked so that it can no longer be lifted to collapse the framework. Thechassis 47 has axles 58 carrying wheels 59, which may be detached forstoring or transporting the baby-carriage in its collapsed state.

I claim:

l. In a wheeled vehicle of the kind described, a collapsible bodycomprising a base, an upper and `a lower frame spanned lby exiblematerial forming walls, releasable means for holding said frames apar-tin an expanded position, sheet metal skirt rigid with the sides of saidupper frame extending outwardly and downwardly for part only of thedepth of the 'body when in the expanded position.

2. A fvehicle according to claim 1, in which the upper frame includes ateach side an inverted-channel member of sheet metal comprising inner andouter walls and the outwardly and downwardly-extending sheet metal skirtis integral with said outer wall, the total depth of said upper frameand said skirt being just sufficient 4to accommodate the lower frame andllexible sides of said coilapr ible body in its collapsed position.

3. A vehicle according to claim 2, in which said :sheet metal skirtextends along the whole length of 'both lsides of said collapsible bodyand is convex downwards along the `bottom edge on each side.

4. VA vehicle according to claim l in which the flexible material of atleast one end wall of said body is formed with a plurality of transversepockets carrying stitening slats.

5. A vehicle according -to claim 4 in which piping eX- tends along thejunctions between the side and end walls of said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,196,834 Mahr Apr. 9, 1940 2,226,000 Krozz etal. Dec. 24, 19402,395,208 Wylie Feb. 19, 1946 2,421,388 Mochan June 3, 1947 2,744,760Welsh et al. May 8, 1956 2,777,706 Welsh Jan. 15, 1957

1. IN A WHEELED VEHICLE OF THE KIND DESCRIBED, A COLLAPSIBLE BODYCOMPRISING A BASE, AN UPPER AND A LOWER FRAME SPANNED BY FLEXIBLEMATERIAL FORMING WALLS, RELEASABLE MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID FRAMES APARTIN AN EXPANDED POSITION, SHEET METAL SKIRT RIGID WITH THE SIDES OF SAID